Monday, August 5, 2013

Breastfeeding in the Back of the Bus

This will be a short one, I promise. It's really quite simple.

I see post after post lauding this or that store, stadium, office building, etc. for having a special breastfeeding place set aside for mothers and babes. I find myself furrowing my brow with every standing ovation. Why does everyone applaud "nursing rooms" and "nursing corners"? I don't get it.

(Photo: Here you have a nursing room so special and thoughtful toward mom and babe that it cannot even be brought to show, oh, I don't know, a breastfeeding mom and babe. Still applauding?)

Every room, any nook, any and every place my son is hungry is a breastfeeding spot. I will not be relegated to some "special" area out of the way simply because it has a ruffly little chair and a cute pink sign. Dress up the back of the bus all you want, it's still the back of the bus.

I, for one, refuse to breastfeed in the back of the bus.

Note: I strongly believe every place should have them so if moms wish to use them of their own volition for their own reasons, they can, but nobody should be directed to one as a passive-aggressive way to get them out of the way. Further, said areas should not be just a dressed up bathroom.

(Photo: This is not a lactation room. It's a john. It's the back of the bus. No, it's that perpetually smelly closet with a toilet in it that nobody wants to sit near at the back of the bus. Puke. Hey, Governor's Square Mall in Tallahassee, Florida, we're onto you, you're not fooling anyone, you're still puke-worthy. Photo credit: Zen Parent Jessica)

As my friend Abby, the brilliant Badass Breastfeeder said, "It's the exact same thing as nursing covers. We should have the right to choose. No one can tell us what we should do."

3 comments:

The only reason I love the idea is because usually they are a private enclosed area with comfy chairs and they keep my other kids all together while I sit and nurse. I don't have to worry about my kids scattering :) now a bathroom is NOT a nursing room. I especially love the one at our airport. It allows us to get away from the crowds and lounge on sofas while waiting for our flight.